Bridle



(No Madei.)

R. S. KINKEAD.

. BRIDLE. No. 412,272. Patented Oct. 8, 1889;

UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

' ROBERT STANARD KINKEAD, OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

BRIDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 412,272, dated October 8, 1889.

Application filed March 8, 1889. Serial No. 302, 58 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT STANARD KIN- KEAD,8. citizen of the United States, residing at Lexington, in the county of Fayette and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Bridles for Controlling Vicious or Unruly Animals; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Heretofore the most effective means for checking unruly or vicious animals has been an extra rein attached to the bridle-bit on each side of the mouth and passing up to and through a ring or eyelet near the junction of the head and brow band and on to the driver; but such action only drew the bit along between the jaws and makes but little impression in controlling the animal.

My invention relates to bridles for horses,

having reference more particularly to those intended to control spirited or vicious animals, or those animals so m etimes called pullers or hard-mouthed horses, which are difficult to control by the ordinary drivinggear.

The object of my invention is to provide an auxiliary attachment to the ordinary bridle, so constructed and arranged as to be available in case of need to force the head of the horse upward and backward without injury, and it may also act to partially and temporarily throttle respiration, whereby a perfect control of the animal may be maintained at all times.

To this end my invention consists in an auxiliary set of bridle-reins carried forward over the head of the horse and through suitable fixed guides upon the crown of the head and upon the nose to an auxiliary or secret bit, the parts being so arranged that the pull is directly outward and upward at right angles to the upper jaw.

A further feature of the device, which, however, is not an essential one, is an auxiliary throat-strap, connected in such a manner with the auxiliary reins as tends to throttle the windpipe of the horse for the time being in case of violent pull. The construction and arrangement of the device also per=- unit it to be used constantly as a checkrein, with the same important advantage that is derived from the use for control in emergencies-to wit, that the pull is not, as in the case of the ordinary driving-bridle, into the bight or angle of the jaw among the soft muscles, where aviolent pull occasions laceration and injury, besides pain and other conditions unfavorable to the desired control. In my improvement, on the contrary, the pull in all cases is, as stated, upward and outward, directly against and at right angles to the upper jaw itself, so that no injury can ensue. Moreover, the head is at once brought into a position where rearing and plunging of the horse are impossible, and any determined resistance to such pull on the part of the animal results in partially throttling the windpipe until the resistance ceases.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanyin g drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a horse provided with the ordinary driving-bridle to which my improvement is attached, the position being the ordinary one, in which my device acts as a checkrein merely. Fig. 2 is a side view of the horse in the position of actual controlling use of my device in an emergency; Fig. 3, a three-quarter perspective front view of the horses head, showing the construction of the nose-piece and guides; Fig. 4, a perspective view of the bridle detached, showing a preferred construction; and Fig. 5, a plan diagram showing the relative arrangement of the main and auxiliary reins, &c.

LII

Referring now to the drawings, the horse A is provided with the ordinary driving-bridle, as shown, which is constructed in the usual manner and used for the ordinary guidance and control of the horse.

The additional features principally constituting my improvement are a pair of auxiliary reins passing through guides at the crown of the head and at the front of the nose to an auxiliary or secret bit placed in front of the usual driving-bit.

The construction and arrangementare as follows;

The auxiliary reins a 0., which are preferably of round form, pass alongside of the driving-reins a forward, being held in sliding engagement by loops 1) b. After passing through the saddle-guides c theauxiliary reins pass thence through a guide or guides d, placed at the crown of the head; thence through a guide or guides e, placed at the front of the nose, and thence to the outer terminals of an auxiliary or secret bit f, placed between the jaws just forward of the ordinary driving-bit g. The guides 01 and e may be constructed in any convenient manner, though I prefer to introduce frictionrolls to insure free passage without friction or binding. The upper guide (1 may be attached to a forward projection of the ordinary headstall h, or may be attached to the winker-strap where such is used. The proper location of this guide is upon the crown of the head between the ears, and in such position as to carry the auxiliary reins clear of the head and of the nose in front.

The guide 6 may be attached .to the ordinary nose-band t', in which case an additional strap j is provided, passing beneath the lower jaw of the horse, with the object of preventing the guide 6 from being displaced backward under the strain of use, both guides-d and 6, however, being attached to-a stiff plate 7r, lying against the front of the nose, connected with the headstall h at the top and the nose-strap t at the bottom, said plate being of sufficient rigidity to Withstand buckling under the compressive strains caused by the pull upon the auxiliary reins and the angles of their course through the guides.

The device is utilized as a checkrein by a strap Z, connecting the auxiliary reins a in rear of the head-guide and engaging the checkrein-hook m upon the saddle 5. When the reins a are pulled backward, the connectingstrap Zis slack and temporarily useless.

The operation of the device is sufficiently obvious. It will be perceived that by means of the guides and the angles given'thereby to the course of the auxiliary reins the pull pull or pressure upon the jaw is at'right an-.

gles thereto and against the bonystructure, thereby avoiding injury to the muscles and softer parts. horse is quite powerless while the head is As it is well known that a thus thrown upward, it will be seen that the device gives a perfect control without injury.

While I have shown and described herein a pair of auxiliary reins extending throughout, I may join them into a single rein at any point in rear of the secret bit f, it being only necessary that the same shall be bifurcated at the nose to pass around both sides to engage the bit at each end. The action of the check-strap Z will be just the same whether its terminals are attached to one such rein or two. I prefer, however, to use duplicate reins throughout, as shown.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a driving-bridle gear, the combination, with the ordinary driving-bridle gear and the auxiliary reins a, passing through guides d and e, of the stiff plate 10, lying along the nose of the horse and adapted to carry the said guides and maintain them in their respective positions, substantially as described.

2. In a driving-bridle gear, in combination muzzle-straps a} j and guide 6, the headstall h and guide 01, the auxiliary bit f, auxiliary reins a, and the loop-connection Z, substantially as set forth.

ROBERT STANARD KIN KEAD. Witnesses:

JOHN MOMURTRY, JOHN H. CLEARY. 

